maintained several estates, and subsequently fled to England. Also during this period, he converted to Calvinist Protestantism. Returning to France in 1562, he distinguished himself as a leader of the Huguenots in the religious civil war against Charles IX, son and successor to Henry II. Montgomery served as one of several Huguenot generals who fought against the Catholics during the rebellion. The others included the Prince de Condé (Louis I de Bourbon) and Count Gaspard de Coligny.
Most of the Huguenot military leaders came from the lesser nobility of France. Because of their landlord social status, they were particularly vulnerable to the high inflation that occurred from time to time. This economic condition severely reduced the value of money while land rental rates remained fixed by governmental regulation. In addition, French law forbade the gentry from supplementing their income through commercial enterprises. On the other hand, social convention dictated that the nobility maintain a certain standard of living. The maintenance of their station required a large, continuous expenditure for the education of their children, accoutrements of rank, and other trappings befitting a member of the lavish social order. Appearances had to be upheld at all costs. Therefore, the effects of the economy weighed harshly on this segment of society. These circumstances and the fact that the peerage traditionally received martial-arts training understandably turned many in this class to military pursuits. For them, war was the only trade they knew or were allowed to practice.13
During the first half of the sixteenth century, France engaged in wars with Spain and the empire (Valois-Hapsburg Wars, 1495–1559). With the ensuing years of peace, many French noblemen-soldiers became unoccupied and restless. The social tensions that had built up in this privileged group help explain the nature of their participation in the French Wars of Religion (1560–1598). These men, who were accustomed to living by the sword, became the protectors of the repressed French Protestants during an intense period of religious reformation and confrontation. This is not to suggest that the Huguenot generals were military mercenaries, attempting to reap only personal gain and glory. All of them had an almost fanatical devotion to their faith and dedication to their cause. Rather, their background offers an insight into why this religious struggle assumed a particular form. By inclination, these leaders were men of action, not politicians or men of letters. Therefore, it was inevitable that this civil strife would be played out through military confrontation instead of using intellectual or diplomatic alternatives.
The death of Henry II left at the head of state Catherine de’ Medici as regent and queen mother of two young, sickly kings. Francis II, the first in succession, died on December 5, 1560, at the age of eighteen. Charles IX succeeded his brother when only ten years old. This period of uncertainty in royal power provided yet another catalyst for the Religious Wars. Initially, Catherine, acting as regent, attempted to reconcile the two religious factions; however, her actions proved to be ineffectual. France experienced a protracted cycle of pacification followed by violent outbreaks of armed conflict between the two sets of antagonists. Historians have differentiated up to eight separate wars during this turbulent period of nearly four decades of domestic strife. Met with this series of rebuffs, Catherine then exercised her matriarchal influence with Charles to align the monarchy with the Catholics and the established church. The conflict turned into a civil war, pitting the royalists and Catholics against the Protestants or Huguenots.14
Montgomery soon established himself as the most successful Huguenot military commander. Condé and Coligny suffered frequent defeat by the Catholics, and Condé lost his life after being captured in March 1569. Although Montgomery’s forces were usually outnumbered by the opposition, they raided extensively in western France. Montgomery had many narrow escapes as the Catholic army harried his troops, but he managed to elude the ponderous and disorganized adversary. Because of these victories, Montgomery increased the size of his force from the areas in which he campaigned. Many of his followers came from Normandy, where he was well known. He was also instrumental in causing mutiny in the ranks of the Scotch Royal Guard, thirty of whom deserted to their former commander. This necessitated a reorganization of the guard in which the monarchy replaced the rebellious Scotch troops with Swiss soldiers. The King’s Swiss Guard remained until the French Revolution.15
On St. Bartholomew’s Day, August 24, 1572, Catherine attempted to accomplish by assassination what the Catholics had failed to do by military action—the overthrow of the Huguenot movement. By this time, she was convinced that the Huguenots constituted a real threat to the throne and that their activities might result in foreign intervention. In what is commonly referred to as the St. Bartholomew Massacre, the monarchy and Catholic forces plotted the murder of all the principal Huguenot leaders in a mass killing.
Conciliation toward the Protestants in the previous year had allowed Coligny to return to court. He was the first victim slain in Paris. Montgomery, quartered across the Seine River in St. Germain, was also a primary target for assassination that day. However, by the time assassins reached his location outside of Paris, Montgomery had received warnings of the danger and managed to foil his attackers. He escaped to Normandy and thence to England. The selected massacre soon raged out of hand into a general slaughter, with mobs roaming throughout Paris streets killing suspected heretics. In the next several days the carnage spread from Paris to the provinces. Thousands of individuals lost their lives in this brutal event.16
Of the chief leaders of the Huguenot armies, only Montgomery survived. His dramatic avoidance of the St. Bartholomew Massacre frustrated the French monarchy’s plan to undermine the Huguenot movement. Therefore, Catherine and Charles were most anxious to apprehend Montgomery. However, Queen Elizabeth I of England maintained an active interest in Montgomery and his cause. Fancying herself as the upholder of Protestantism, she gave aid and encouragement to the Huguenots. She also forced mediation several times during the Religious Wars by threatening English intervention. Elizabeth had offered sanctuary and a sympathetic ear before to Montgomery. Thus, when Montgomery arrived safely in England, Elizabeth offered him refuge.
In its frantic attempt to use every means to dispatch Montgomery, the French monarchy disregarded Elizabeth’s previous compassion for the Huguenots and sought her cooperation. When Charles’s ambassador delivered a message to her requesting assistance in the capture of Montgomery, Queen Elizabeth employed subterfuge by citing an instance when King Henry II refused to surrender some English fugitives upon the request of Queen Mary. Queen Elizabeth responded thus: “I would answer your master as his father answered my sister, Queen Mary, when he said, ‘I will not consent to be the hangman of the Queen of England.’ So his Majesty, the King of France, must excuse me if I can no more act as executioner of those of my religion than King Henry would discharge a similar office in the case of those that were not of his religion.”17
Montgomery soon returned to France and continued the Huguenot crusade. He and his followers eventually mounted a stout resistance to the French crown. The Huguenots established control over the province of Normandy by holding the strategic towns of St. Lo and Domfront. At this time, Montgomery threatened to bring extensive French territory under the power of the Protestants. In 1574, Charles IX tried to negotiate an armistice with the count, promising him protection if he would lay down his arms. However, Montgomery replied that the memory of St. Bartholomew prevented him from doing so.18
Montgomery’s remarkable military career was destined to be brief. The royalists and Catholics finally organized a strong suppressive force and launched a sustained attack on the Huguenot stronghold of St. Lô. Since he was outnumbered and besieged, with little hope of success or escape, Montgomery’s situation became desperate. Although suffering tremendous losses, he evaded destruction. However, the loyalist forces overtook Montgomery a few days later at Domfront and forced him to surrender the remnants of his command. Montgomery’s apprehension occurred three days before King Charles IX finally succumbed to a long illness.19
The capture of Count Montgomery was particularly gratifying to Catherine de’ Medici, who had never forgiven the unfortunate knight for her husband’s death. Montgomery’s warring against her son who succeeded the late king further exasperated her feelings. Therefore, Catherine
